Four shouts in three hours led to a busy start to the weekend for Falmouth's volunteer rescuers - including one incident in which a person was described as "very, very lucky" to have escaped unharmed.

The first call came in just after 7pm on Friday, with reports that a person was in the water at Gyllyngvase Beach shouting for help.

Falmouth and Porthoustock coastguard rescue teams, Falmouth's inshore lifeboat, the coastguard rescue helicopter and the ambulance service were all scrambled.

As the Falmouth crews arrived though it was confirmed that the person had made it out of the sea and, apart from taking on a small amount of water, was safe and well.

The Porthoustock team and rescue helicopter were stood down, but while Falmouth's coastguard and RNLI volunteers were still at the beach another call came in about a surfers in difficult on the reef at Gyllyngvase.

The inshore lifeboat crew members made their way over to help the surfers before returning to the station.

Falmouth Packet:

The inshore lifeboat makes its way to Gyllyngvase. Photo: Falmouth RNLI

However, while the coastguards were packing up yet another call came in about another person in difficulty, under the cliff between Gyllyngvase and Swanpool.

Having just got back to their own station, Porthoustock Coastguard Rescue Team was once again paged to return back to Falmouth and help with a potential rope rescue, with the inshore lifeboat on standby to return.

A Falmouth Coastguard spokesperson said: "Having carried out a brief search of the area a member of the public came forward to say that he’d seen a person climbing the cliff a little further up the path. We relocated to Boscawen Fields and set up for a rope rescue.

"During this time, another person had come forward to say that they were the ‘casualty’ and they were safe and well, having been caught out by the sea conditions and no other way out but up.

"We would never recommend climbing a cliff, especially given the sea conditions. The person was very, very lucky and this incident could have have a very different outcome.

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"If you find yourself in trouble, if you can, get to a safe place. Shout, wave or, if you have a way of calling 999, do so and ask for Coastguard."

Having not even made it home from the previous three incidents, the Falmouth team went on to be tasked to incident number 140 of the year - a vessel adrift at Packet Quays.

Members found that a large rowing boat had parted its mooring and, happy that there were no sign of anyone in danger or having been recently onboard, they made the vessel safe and passed the details on to the harbour office for following up the next day.

The volunteers finally made it back to their homes for a late dinner at around 10pm.

The Falmouth Coastguard spokesperson also said there had been concern about the amount of fires on Gyllyngvase Beach while the team was there.

He said: "There are by-laws that cover the Falmouth beaches regarding the lighting of fires. Unattended fires can cause a real hazard to the buildings on the beach and can cause a completely unnecessary call out for our local fire crews.

"The leftover burned material can pose a real pollution and safety risk, not only from any plastics that might be burned, but also from any nails that might be left in the sand."